'Abducted' Pregnant Teen Calls Home

March 10, 2008— -- A pregnant California teenager allegedly abducted at knifepoint Saturday morning by her baby's 20-year-old father has called home twice to say she is safe, but authorities continue to search for the teen.

"We have some reservations about this case," Bernard Gonzales, a spokesman for Chula Vista, Calif., police, told ABC News. "But you don't just shut things down."

"We have a teenager's welfare at stake," he said. "We want to get this guy in; we want to question him."

An Amber Alert has been in effect in California since Chula Vista police responded to a call Saturday morning about the kidnapping of Ashlee Crocitto, 16, outside the home where she lives with her mother, Bobbi Crocitto, Gonzales said.

Authorities said that Carlos Antonio, who had previously lived with the Crocittos in the town south of San Diego, hid behind some bushes before confronting the teen and her mother as they walked to the car Saturday morning.

Bobbi Crocitto told ABC News that her daughter alerted school employees and a detective Friday that she was having a difficult time getting out of what she described as an abusive relationship with Antonio.

Three weeks earlier, Bobbi Crocitto had thrown Antonio out of her house, she told ABC News.

According to her account of the alleged abduction, Antonio pulled a buck knife with a red handle after she pushed him. He reportedly said that he was going to be arrested. "He pushed Ashlee into the car holding a knife to her throat," Bobbi Crocitto said. "It came to a certain point where I wasn't able to stop the car."

Bobbi Crocitto had already called 911 when the pair took off in a teal blue, two-door 1999 Hyundai Accent with California license plates and a loud muffler. There may be a white dog in the car, according to the Chula Vista police.

On Saturday and again Sunday, Ashlee Crocitto called her mother's cell phone, Bobbi Crocitto said. During each call, both of which lasted just a few minutes and came from unidentified numbers, the teen girl said that she was safe.